Today is bread baking day, and today is also the
first time I’ve made this bread recipe … it won’t be the last!
I like trying new things in the kitchen, so
today I tackled a new bread recipe and some new shape techniques. I enjoy new
recipes. I learned how to cook by doing it; my mother never
taught me – she taught my younger sister, ramona, but she didn’t think it worth
her time to invest in me: so, I learned how to cook after I married Bob. He was
a willing guinea pig, and his loving sacrificial sufferings through new
bride cold spaghetti meals and tearful burnt offerings, as well as his kisses
& hugging encouragements to ‘keep trying, honey; you’ll learn’ helped
me enjoy the cooking journey through the years ;-)
A trepidatious cook in the early
years; when I wasn’t yet confident in my cooking abilities – I’d follow recipe directions,
but I was never sure what was actually going to be coming out of the oven. LOL
Now I’m a good cook, and I can bring my
offerings to the table with a beaming smile, fully confident they will be
appreciated and enjoyed.
My first attempts at bread making were
failures all the way around. But I was determined to turn out a good loaf of
bread, so I walked to the blue-ribbon bread baker of our small town and knocked
on her door. When she opened the door, I said, “I want your secret. I’ve been
trying and trying to make a descent loaf of bread for months … spill! What do
you do to make your wonderful breads?” She laughed and told me: and I’ve been
turning out great loaves of bread ever since – of course, they are nothing at
all like hers because she kept and took that spectacular secret to herself and to
her grave; but what she told me and taught me is enough. I’m satisfied with my
breads, and Bob loved my breads ;-)
This recipe is super simple and rises no fail
at a cool temperature :-D
The versatile dough can be formed into several
shapes: I made 3 this afternoon – from one making of the recipe ;-)
There are 2 other flavors that can be used to
enhance this basic recipe – for the Whole Wheat French Bread, simply substitute
1½ cups finely ground whole wheat flour for the same amount of unbleached all-purpose
flour; or create loaves similar to San Francisco sourdough by using 2 cups warm
yogurt instead of water.
I just stuck to the original recipe today.
This dough rises light, but it cooks and
cools very dense; it will feel heavy when removed from pans.
PAIN ORDINAIRE BREAD (French
Baguette) Recipe ~ Makes 4 baguettes
1½ packages dry Yeast or 2
cakes fresh yeast * 1 teaspoon Sugar * 2 cups warm Water or
lukewarm water (105-F to 115-F) * 2¾ cups Bread Flour * 2¾
cups unbleached all-purpose Flour * 2 teaspoons Salt * Additional
Flour if needed * Cornmeal * 1 Egg white with 1 Tablespoon Water
& a pinch of salt for the glaze
Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water in a
large bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer; stir to dissolve (I use a regular
large bowl and a regular hand mixer … it does work the wrist, so be aware).
If using cake yeast, crumble into bowl; stir in sugar and lukewarm water
(95-F). **Let either method
of yeast mixture stand for 10 minutes to foamy:
Combine bread flour and all-purpose flour
together. Add 2 cups flour mixture with salt to yeast mixture. Using wire whisk
attachment, or dough hooks, beat 5 minutes to develop gluten ...
Remove wire whisk from mixer and insert
paddle attachment if using a heavy-duty mixer. Using low speed, blend in enough
remaining flour ½ cup at a time to form dough that clears the sides of bowl.
Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic – kneading in additional
flour if dough is sticky (pick dough up occasionally and slap onto surface
to develop gluten), 12 minutes.
Grease a large bowl. Add dough, turning to
coat entire surface. Cover bowl with plastic. Let dough rise in a cool area
until tripled in volume – about 2 hours:
Cool rise – I admit I was skeptical of this method; I’ve never done a cool dough rise before. But it worked beautifully :-D
I finished this knit baby jacket while waiting for the first rise to wrap up.
Gently knead dough in bowl to deflate. Cover
and let rise in cool place again until tripled in volume – about 1½ hours.
Sprinkle cornmeal on ungreased baking sheets
of French bread pans. Gently knead dough on lightly floured surface until deflated;
kneading in additional all-purpose flour if too sticky. Cut into 4 even pieces.
*Flatten each piece into a
rectangle about 12” in length and roll up jelly-roll style, starting at one
long end. Pinch seams to seal. Roll back and forth on work surface until dough
is length of pan. Arrange seam side down on lightly cornmealed prepared pans …
spacing at least 4 inches apart. Let rise 25 minutes to lighten density.
Rising loaves in a cold oven.
Position oven rack in lower third of oven. Preheat
oven to 425-F. Slash top of loaves, using serrated knife. Brush with glaze. Bake
until loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom – about 25 minutes. Immediately
transfer to cooling racks. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
My French Bread baguettes.
My 'little mushrooms' - I deliberately made them smaller than the recipe directs.
Variations:
Champignons (“small mushrooms” shape): Cut dough into 6 even pieces. Cut
2/3 of 1 piece of dough and knead into round. Place on prepared sheet. Make well
in center. Knead remaining dough piece into a round ball and set in well atop
first piece of dough. With floured finger, make hole down center of rounds to
baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Let rise as for baguettes.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
I made much smaller rolls by making a
12” rope and cutting off 1” pieces (12 ct) and shaping as described above.
4 Boules (rounds): Cut dough into 4 even pieces. Knead each into a round
shape. Let rise as for baguettes. Slash tops. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
4 l’epi (“sprig shapes): Cut dough into 4 even pieces. Form each into a
12-inch baguette shape. Using scissors, cut ¾ of the way into each dough at
3-inch intervals. Pull each section out in opposite direction and twist slightly
to form loaves resembling wheat sprigs. Let rise as for baguettes. Bake for 25
to 30 minutes.
After seeing my lame sprig (it was so pathetic
looking I’m not even going to post a pic), I hunted down this **Youtube video that made the thing
appear so simple to do (original recipe instructions of cutting and
twisting totally confused me): I’ll refer to this simplified video for
a future loaf ;-)
